


MTV

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:26:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22187806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: All Time Low are set to perform on MTV, and Alex is nervous for it.
Kudos: 3





	MTV

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request!

“Guys, hurry up, the car is going to be here for us soon!” Alex exclaimed to his bandmates as he paced around the living room of their hotel suite nervously.  
“Alex, chill, we’re almost ready!” Rian called from the bathroom. Alex continued to pace around and started to take deep breaths. Lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t notice Jack walk into the living room, finally ready to leave the hotel.  
“Woah, why do you look so freaked out? We’re going to do just fine,” Jack said in a calm voice.  
“Jack, this isn’t just another gig, this is MTV, this shit is a big deal, we have to do well,” Alex replied in a serious tone.  
“I see where you’re coming from, but you’re just going to stress yourself out if you think like that. Try to look at this as just another concert,” Jack suggested.  
“But it’s not just another concert, this could get us bigger. I know some of our fans will be in the audience, but so will lots of other people who haven’t heard of us. And, it’s televised, so there could be someone channel surfing while we’re on, and we’ll either interest them enough to make them stop and watch, or they won’t care, and will just keep scrolling through their channels. Think about how many fans we could potentially gain from this performance,” Alex explained.  
“Okay, sit down on the couch, you need to calm down, and stopping with the pacing is a good start,” Jack said, leading Alex to the couch and making him sit.  
“I’m sitting, are you happy now?” Alex asked in a snappy tone.  
“Partly. Next, I want you to stop freaking out. If we gain fans from this, great, and if not, it’s okay. Some of our own fans will be there, and they’re the people who matter the most. They love us enough to watch us play one song on an hour-long show, focus on them,” Jack tried.  
“I guess you have a point, thanks for keeping me sane,” Alex replied with a small smile.   
“No problem. It’s funny, I never thought I’d be giving this speech, I always figured that I had the biggest ego in this band,” Jack said with a laugh.  
“You do, you’re just keeping it in check for this short moment,” Zack said as he walked into the living room with Rian.  
“Now that everyone is done having mental breakdowns, Alex, let’s go downstairs,” Rian said in a joking voice. Once they were all sure that they had everything that they’d need, the four of them walked out of the room and made their way downstairs. Right as they got outside, the car that was sent to pick them up arrived, and they all piled in.   
Jack, Rian and Zack all talked about the next tour they would be going on, but Alex didn’t really talk much. Even though Jack had made some good points back in the hotel, Alex couldn’t help but feel nervous for their upcoming performance.   
He was quite excited for the TV exposure they’d get form this, but this would be one of their biggest performances to date. Alex did want to win people over, and he felt that his band didn’t care about his as much as he did. He knew that he should just relax and enjoy the experience, but this was a really big deal, and Alex felt that there was a lot riding on this performance.   
Once they got to the studio MTV was in, they thanked their driver, then walked into the back door. Almost immediately, they were greeted by a crew member.  
“Hey guys, I’m Casey, one of the stage techs. I’m going to walk you through how all of this will go, then take you to your dressing room, where you can wait until it’s your turn to go on,” Casey explained.  
“Sounds good,” Zack replied.   
“Okay, so your instruments are already here, and they’ll be hooked up to our amps, and they’re already tuned, so you’ll just have to put them on when you come out here,” Casey said.  
“That’ll be nice, right, Alex?” Jack asked, nudging his friend.  
“Um, yeah,” Alex said, still stuck in his thoughts.  
“Next, you’ll enter the stage from this opening. Your song will be right before the commercial at the twenty-minute mark of the show. If you guys want to stay and watch the rest of the show, there will be a TV set up in your dressing room for that. Speaking of which, I’ll take you guys there now,” Casey said, leading the four of them down a hallway until they reached a door with their band name on it.   
“This is where you guys will stay until one of us comes to get you for your performance. Make yourselves at home, and ask for Casey if you guys need anything,” Casey stated with a friendly smile. The four of them thanked her, then went into the room, and Rian shut the door.  
“This is so sweet!” Jack exclaimed with a big grin.  
“This really is, what an awesome studio, right, Alex?” Rian asked, trying to snap Alex out of his thoughts.  
“Wait, sorry, what?” Alex asked, abruptly coming back to reality.  
“Are you still overthinking about this?” Zack asked.  
“What do you think?” Alex asked sarcastically.   
“Dude, why are you so nervous? We perform all the time, and we’ve rehearsed for this particular performance, like, a million times. It’s only one song, what’s the worst that could happen?” Jack questioned.  
“Well, we could get out of sync, our fans could think that we’re shitty live and decide that they don’t like us anymore, I could forget the words, there’s a lot of possibilities,” Alex replied.  
“Don’t focus on all of that shit, dude. We’re going to do great, you’ll see. I know you won’t fuck up,” Rian said, trying to reassure his friend.  
“Yeah, you’re great at what you do when we play regular shows, I’m sure this will be just the same,” Zack added.  
“I guess you guys are right,” Alex replied.  
“Of course we are! Now, will you please stop freaking out? Loosen up and have some fun and laughs before we have to go on,” Jack sated. For the next thirty minutes, the four of them all exchanged their favorite tour stories, and just had a good time, hoping to ease their nerves. This performance gave them all butterflies, but not to the extent that Alex had. After thirty minutes, there was a knock at the door.  
“Hey guys, you’re up next, come on over to the stage entrance!” Casey exclaimed.  
“Let’s fucking go!” Jack exclaimed as the four of them got up and followed Casey over to where their instruments were. Once they had everything, they started to watch the band that was on before them from where they were.  
“Don’t stress, Alex. Everything will be okay,” Jack said quietly enough for just Alex to hear.  
“I hope so,” Alex said, his mind starting to race again. Jack gave him an encouraging pat on the back as the other band walked offstage.  
“What a great performance! Next up, from Baltimore, Maryland, we have All Time Low, who will be performing their single, Dear Maria, Count Me In! Come on out, boys!” the host exclaimed, moving off of the stage so the four of them could take their places.  
“We’re All Time Low, this is Dear Maria, Count Me In,” Alex said into the mic, his mind still swimming. Suddenly, they started into the song. Everything went great up until the first chorus.   
Alex messed up a few chords during the chorus but tried to keep going. Unfortunately, this made his mind race more, so when they got to the second verse, and Alex saw how many people there were in the crowd, the lyrics completely disappeared from his mind. He tried to pull himself together, but the words didn’t come on his entrance, and he froze up in front of everyone.   
The rest of the band continued to play as Alex’s face went red, and his eyes grew wide. His bandmates gave each other looks of confusion as they turned where they were in the song into a jam. Alex hung his head and hid his face as a few warm tears slipped form his eyes.   
Jack could see what was going on and motioned for the band to start at the second verse again. When they started there, Jack started to sing the lyrics, to everyone’s surprise. Alex lifted his head enough to see Jack, and Jack gave Alex an encouraging look as he continued to sing. Alex took a deep breath and came back in at the second chorus.   
They were able to finish out the song and ended up getting a standing ovation from the crowd. Alex said a quick thank you to the audience, then bolted offstage. The other three exchanged looks of concern before walking back to their dressing room.   
Alex was laying on one of the couches, facing the wall, and his friends could hear him crying. They all went over to where he was and sat around him.  
“Alex, are you okay?” Jack asked carefully.   
“I fucked up so badly,” Alex replied in a shaky voice.  
“Hey, it’s okay, I think the crowd liked that Jack same some,” Zack tried.  
“No, all I had to do was perform a song that we play at every show, and I couldn’t do it. Why did I have to fuck up so badly? What’s wrong with me?” Alex asked, still crying.  
“Nothing’s wrong with you, dude, we all get nervous,” Rian sympathized.   
“Yeah, but I fucked up on live TV, people are going to rewatch this, and they’ll wonder why you guys even keep me in the band,” Alex stated.  
“Alex, this band exists because of you. All of our lyrics are by you, and your energy and dedication are amazing, probably some of the best in this industry. I know fucking up isn’t fun, but everything is going to be okay. None of us are mad at you, and I’m sure that the fans aren’t, either. Please, don’t be so hard on yourself, everything is okay, we promise,” Jack said. Alex slowly turned to face his friends and sit up on the couch. He still had some tears on his face, but it looked like he was trying to recollect himself some.  
“You guys really aren’t mad?” Alex asked.  
“No man, it’s all going to be okay. This is a learning experience,” Zack replied.  
“Yeah, shit happens, and you can learn from it, or let it destroy you. Do the first one,” Rian replied.  
“You’re super talented, Alex. Don’t let what happened make you think you’re not,” Jack said.  
“Thank you, guys, you really are the best friends and the best band that anyone could ask for,” Alex said as they all shared a group hug.  
“Now that you’re feeling better, let’s watch the rest of the show!” Jack said, turning on the TV. As they watched, Alex thought to himself about how grateful he was for his friends and their willingness to help him when he needed it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a request for someone on my Tumblr! At this point, I only have one more request to draft, and two to post, so please send in ideas if you have them! I have some of my own ideas, but I always find that I'm more motivated to write requests, since they're for you guys more so than myself! I'd love to add more ideas to my list of things to work on! I hope you all enjoyed this story, and thank you so much for reading. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
